I am writing in response to “Taxi regulation a time bomb, As Domino Pizza’s founder learned, a policy that penalizes drivers who fail to meet an arbitrary and unreasonable deadline will predictably result in serious injuries and death” by Patricia H. Lee (Commentary, Jan. 12). The piece dealt with the city’s regulation requiring cab companies to fill telephone requests for service.
As the piece pointed out, Ms. Lee is director of the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, which represents three cab companies currently in litigation with the city for violations of this requirement. What Ms. Lee failed to state was that the rule specifically says that cab companies are required to fill service calls within 30 minutes, or call the customer and inform him or her of the effort being undertaken to provide a cab. It is obvious from her commentary that Ms. Lee does not understand the frustration of individuals who have missed business meetings or medical treatments, or been late for work or a flight at the airport simply because a cab did not arrive on time or at all.
To compare a policy that advocates equal access to taxicab service for all Chicagoans to a pizza delivery is ridiculous. This is not about one or two delivery vans rushing to deliver hot pizzas; it is about 6,700 cabs in the business of providing public transportation.
The impact of an unreliable cab system on Chicago would be greater than Ms. Lee would have us believe. It would not only hurt the individual who calls for transportation that never arrives, but it would also adversely impact local businesses that already have difficulty getting cab service for their customers.
The Department of Consumer Services is dedicated to ensuring that all Chicagoans have equal access to taxicab service. But our efforts have never compromised public safety or advocated reckless driving. Quite the contrary, during the last decade, we have mandated more safe-driver training for new as well as existing chauffeurs. Moreover, drivers with more than two convictions for reckless driving in one year can lose their public chauffeurs’ licenses.
Taxicabs are public accommodations and as such have an affirmative duty to service the public at large, not just select areas of the city or specific individuals.
Moreover, these same taxicab companies advertise their services. But should it be an acceptable policy for a person who calls one of these companies to be told that a cab is coming when it is not, or to be made to wait hours for a cab that never arrives? The city thinks not, and the people who have been the past victims of similar injustices agree.
The 16 taxicab affiliations operating radio-dispatch services in Chicago each has, on average, between 90 and 300 member taxicabs. The largest of the affiliations have more than 1,000 cabs. Thirty minutes is ample time for a dispatcher to locate a cab or call the customer, while at the same time preserving the public’s safety.
